Sector 49-D Chandigarh Housing Board colony going to the dogs

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to inaugurate the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB’s) housing complex in Sector 63, one of the board’s existing colonies in adjoining Sector 49-D — launched six years ago with much hype — is crying for maintenance.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to inaugurate the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB’s) housing complex in Sector 63, one of the board’s existing colonies in adjoining Sector 49-D — launched six years ago with much hype — is crying for maintenance.

Residents have complaining about the broken roads, the wild growth of grass and increasing and dangerous menace of stray dogs in the area. This is even as the Sector 49-D Colony was once the landmark project for the CHB, similar to the status being given to Sector-63 flats.

In addition to the problems, that are visible from the outside, residents also claim that the walls, pipes, joints and broken tiles of the CHB flats have been perennial problems, perhaps resulting from the poor quality of construction.

Roads also have such wide potholes that when water accumulates these act as fatal accident points with the children and the elderly especially vulnerable.

Residents losing patience

Baldev Singh, a resident of the locality, said, “For the past four years, the stretch of the road opposite House number 2791 is just a mud track, yet there have been no attempts to repair it. A government contractor one tried to fill the road with cement plaster, but that led to the road turning even more uneven and dangerous.”

He added that a ditch had been formed at other places in the locality too and with wild grass growth all round, allergies, especially among children, was a common problem. Shubham, a school-going child, is afraid of playing in the parks as the stray dogs menace plays out on his minds. There have been several cases of dog bites in the past, but no concrete steps have been taken to check the menace.

A colony resident even claimed that a tenant at a low-income-group flat had chained a few stray dogs at her house making it very difficult for people, especially children, to take that road.

Another resident Naresh Kumar said, “The nuisance caused by unregistered paying guest accommodation is also a big issue here. Many youngsters living as PGs play loud music and blow horns late at night, causing grave inconvenience to residents, especially children who have to rush to school, early morning.”

“The road stretch from Sector 49-50 traffic signal light point leading to Sector 49-D colony is occupied by people, illegally encroaching upon the roadsides and selling fast food, vegetables and other stuff. This becomes an assembly point for unscrupulous elements and incidents of eve-teasing have also become a norm,” said Mahesh Kumar, another resident.

When contacted, CHB chairman Maninder Singh said, “After the Prime Minister’s visit on September 11, we will visit this sector also and will work to solve the problems residents.”